


Pulse

by Red_Reaper



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Harry and Ron are dead, Implied/Referenced Underage Relationship(s), Maybe more mature later, Maybe some mental difference, Multi, Other, Slow Burn, Some bad language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 01:39:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10709451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Reaper/pseuds/Red_Reaper
Summary: Attention: WIP work and slow burn fanfiction.With WIP I mean that I am open to any suggestion and change that this fic could need to be much more enjoyable for all of you :)During a potions class, Neville makes another mistake with his potion and Hermione ends up deeply asleep. She continues growing up but unable to wake up and is under the care of Severus Snape, while the war and other lives continue.





	1. Chapter 1

  _Pulse._

 

She wasn't exactly dead…

But she wasn't exactly alive either…

What was she then?

 

0ooo0ooo0ooo0

He couldn't believe it the first time he saw and heard it from Poppy Pomfrey, but within days it had become like a routine. He would visit the infirmary, check Hermione's vital signs and sit next to her, reading a book or just watching the rise and fall of her chest while she remained in a deep sleep.

"Do you think that he feels guilty about it, Minerva?" Poppy whispered a few beds away, looking at them with great sadness. "He comes every day at the same hour and leaves at the same hour. He just sits there silently, as if he were expecting a miracle to happen!"

"I can't tell if he feels guilty. This terrible accident did happen during one of his classes, but it certainly isn't his fault. At least, not directly..." The elder witch said sombrely, frowning a little bit. "I do hope this experience helps him to realize that he can't continue scaring his students to death. Albus asked him to watch over her and as much as he despises everything and everyone around him, he shouldn't refuse. Every time Longbottom sees him, he shakes like a jelly and I am sure that all the pressure that he puts on the poor boy helped to cause this accident". Minerva sighed heavily. "It's so sad. Longbottom feels so bad about it that he's more nervous than ever. Some of his classmates have started to act oddly around him and, like Severus, he comes every day to check on her. He feels terribly guilty for _"killing" Hermione Granger."_

"I can still remember what happened and it gives me goosebumps all over." The medi-witch shivered, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. "Another simple potion class which the poor boy managed to convert into a unmitigated disaster".

"The worst thing was telling her parents. I mean, she's their only daughter and now she's in a deep sleep, without any possibility of waking up again."

"She was a beautiful young witch, smarter than any other that I've seen before. Almost like you. Or…  _Lily._ " Poppy's voice broke a little, blinking a few tears away. "Potter and Weasley also feel terribly guilty. Before all this happened, they had some differences with her. I think that the Weasley boy had some kind of argument with her and she was crying. That was what the other girls said…"

The women sighed and turned their attention to the professor, sitting next to the young witch, watching her intently.

_The saddest accident ever…_


	2. Survivor guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Took a few decisions about the fic:
> 
> The accident happened during Hermione's 5 year and now Harry and Ron are dead, so Snape and the others are a kind of resistance...

Survivor guilt

_"A deep feeling of guilt often experienced by those who have survived some catastrophe that took the lives of many others"._

0oooo0oooo0ooo0

It didn't matter how many times Severus Snape shook his head to keep himself awake, he kept slumbering in the chair next to the bed where Hermione Granger remained deeply asleep.

Almost midnight.The hours seemed to pass really slowly these days and it felt like decades, just hiding inside a little cabin closer to the Hogwarts grounds. It felt almost like living with whatever the woods could provide, even with the castle a few meters away, trying to keep the faith that the situation would improve in the near future.

It sounded a bit silly that nobody went to look for them in there, but he kept praying for a bit more luck to remain unnoticed.

It didn't matter how many times he tried to shake his head to keep himself awake, he still felt like he was living inside in one of his worst nightmares.

That damn accident and then… Potter and Weasley were dead. No wonder why Hermione Granger got the title of _“The brains of the trio"_.

Stupid boys…

Fighting without a good plan and just listening to their _"brave hearts"_ , forgetting to use their brains just for once.

Maybe he had to give a bit of credit to the Weasley boy. He came up with a few good ideas at the end, but they were poorly executed…

"Professor Snape… Sir?" just a little whisper and a cold hand touching his shoulder almost had him jumping out of the chair, not really expecting any visit at that hour of the night. He seriously hated the damn deep silence in the woods where every little noise had him jumping on his feet and getting his wand out, only to end up scaring little squirrels or any other animal that came around.

Poppy Promfrey stood behind him, looking really pale and tired, making him wonder if the situation in the castle had got any worse. He was still a teacher there, but every time that he left the castle using a little passage in his own private chambers, during midnights and these free hours when he wasn't teaching, he got the horrible idea that the place could end up burned with every single student and staff member inside during his absence, and then he would be the one to blame for not being there and supporting the resistance.

The woman quickly unbuttoned her black cloak and walked straight to the young witch lying on the bed, while the black eyes of the potions professor followed every one of her movements. There was a tiny pause where the head of Slytherin wondered if he had to start any kind of conversation or just keep watching.

"Yes? What's the matter, Poppy?"

"I am sorry to scare you like this, but Professor McGonagall sent me to check if there was any change…" the woman replied without even looking at him, placing one of her hands over Hermione's forehead.

"No change since the accident in the fifth year". His voice was barely audible, like a little whisper coming from the dancing flames of the fireplace standing a few centimeters from them. "And I'm not exactly sure that there will be any change at all. We have tried everything we could and there has been no improvement. I asked Longbottom about it, so many times, that I think that we will end driving him mad and then losing our last hope of defeating the Dark Lord".

"The poor boy feels terrible! Totally excluded during his school years and then forced to see his friends die, constantly being told that everything was his fault. Maybe Hermione was an important part of the solution, but that doesn't mean that we should torture him for this!"

_Funny…_

It started like any other potion class. He could remember himself just walking around the cauldrons and laughing at Gryffindor, supported by his own Slytherin students.

Nothing new, nothing to worry about.

Except for just one little thing…

Longbottom making another of his failed attempts at brewing a decent sample.

He fucked it up and fucked it up really bad.

All that he could remember was the fumes coming out from his cauldron, whistling madly. Suddenly the entire classroom was covered with a disgusting red smoke and every single student inside, started to scream while trying to escape and save their lives. He couldn't see too well in the middle of the disaster, but suddenly he noticed the body of Hermione Granger lying on the floor and apparently unconscious.

No matter how many times he followed the _"steps"_ of the boy, the girl kept deeply asleep and then everything got worse.

At first, Minerva kept saying that it was just an accident and that for sure there was another cure, somewhere. A spell or maybe another potion to counteract the effects of the first one, but soon he realized that maybe there wasn't anything that they could do to fix it.

Day after day, Neville Longbottom started to isolate himself and started to be excluded by his own friends. He usually sat alone in every class or meal, even when Minerva tried to encourage her students to have faith that the things would get better.

But it simply never happened.

He could still remember the day when they had to talk with her parents about it. Dumbledore made it feel like a normal… "happens every day" thing, but the truth literally killed them. For days, they discussed the destiny of Neville Longbottom and the Ministery of Magic decided that he had to be expelled.

"If Rubeus Hagrid was expelled because of the Chamber of Secrets, then the boy has to be expelled for killing a student!" That was the argument that they used in front of a really disappointed old woman that he was pretty sure, never expected to face that terrible moment in her entire life.

He knew about his parents in St. Mungo. He knew about Bellatrix Lestrange and everything that the Longbottoms suffered thanks to her…

He seriously tried to see the funny side of the situation, but at in the end he couldn't do it.

There wasn't anything to laugh at.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: WIP and slow burn fic!!
> 
> Well, sorry for the slow start. Trying to get used to the English writting.
> 
> And sorry for all the typos! And let me know what do you think of the plot so far…
> 
> Please???


	3. Survivor guilt II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus Snape remembers what happened in the past 2 years

Please, let me know if you like this chapter and what do you think about the story. Also, if you spot any mistake or if you have any opinion to share

I'm trying to break the language barrier, so I apologize for the mistakes and any other issue that could affect the enjoyment of the fic.

Survivor guilt II

0ooo0oooo0

"It still amazes me how her hair keeps growing! It's so pretty and abundant!" the medi- witch smiled, running one of her hands softly through her long curls, while seated next to her in the bed. "It seems like I will have to cut it again soon".

"Granger isn't dead…" she barely heard the professor's voice, over the sound of a spoon mixing what it seemed like black tea on a cup. "Her hair and everything else will keep growing as if she were awake and perfectly normal". The head of Slytherin made a tiny pause and then added, reflexively, staring at the dancing flames of the fireplace. "Now that I think of it… there wasn't any reason to kick Longbottom out of the school". "She's obviously alive so… Longbottom didn't kill anybody".

" _I know... I know…"_ the woman sighed heavily, whispering a soft _"thank you"_ for the warm cup of tea that Snape handled to her and looked down at the young girl, lying motionless in the middle of the bed. "Hermione Granger was the smartest witch of her age and definitely didn't deserve to end like this". She paused to give a few sips of her tea, trying to swallow a hard lump in her throat that came with the memories. "I still can't understand how all this thing happened…"

_He couldn't understand it either…_

Two years ago, Albus Dumbledore asked him to teach Occlumency to the spoiled Potter brat. Somehow the Dark Lord noticed the connection in between their thoughts and it was his job to teach him how to close his mind from external penetration. Or in the case of Potter, internal penetration.

It didn't make any difference anyways and it felt like a valuable time lost. The boy was really stubborn about it and for sure made him feel special; being the only one capable of knowing what the Dark Lord was thinking.

Knowledge that didn't work for anything, once the Dark Lord understood how to use it against the boy. Dolores Umbridge ended being the headmistress of Hogwarts and after suppressing all the defense classes, the students were an easy target for any death eater.

Nobody seemed capable to stop her and without Granger around, there wasn't any common sense that could avoid Potter and Weasley to fall into the Dark Lord's trap or any suggestion of training with some defenses first. A fake thought that Sirius Black was being captured and tortured inside the Department of Mysteries, so that he could attract the boy to a prophecy that he couldn't finish hearing years ago, was just enough to send them directly to the Ministery of Magic and into a useless fight.

Of course that for Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, a bunch of untrained kids weren't a real treat and soon they had the battle turned into their favor.

He wasn't really sure of how the other students survived enough to be saved by Dumbledore, but Potter and Weasley didn't had the same luck and ended as dead as Black did after being hit by an Avada Kedavra from his cousin Bellatrix and falling inside the veil.

No doubt that Potter was as good duelist like his father, but he didn't count with Voldemort appearing in the middle of the battle.

He heard the story from the lucky students that survived and as much as he tried to believe in all these compliments that Albus and the other professors used to say about the boy, he kept believing that he didn't had anything special at all and all his past victories against the darkness, were just pure luck and friends help. Potter didn't have enough training and the fact that Albus tried to ignore him, the entire school term, didn't help either and soon he was dead and joining his parents into the heavens.

He seriously loathed Black, but really preferred to have him alive if that could change in anything, the terrible present they had now.

From that, everything just went as worse as possible. Albus Dumbledore tried to destroy one of the Horcruxes to try to stop Voldemort anyways and ended cursed, with a foot on his grave. He did everything he could to stop the curse and trap it into his hand, but the Dark Lord had a plan and soon Draco Malfoy was happy to oblige.

He could tell that the headmaster felt really guilty after what happened in the Department of Mysteries and seemed a bit careless about his own life and what he represented to the magical community. His death could signify the loss of the last hope to stop his master from conquering everything around, but Dumbledore was much more worried about the soul of the only son of the Malfoys.

" _Kill me and help me to save Draco". "I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want to do it. That the boy is really scared"._

" _Please… Severus…"_

It didn't matter how much he tried to forget these images, the green light and his body falling from the astronomy tower, kept haunting his restless dreams.

And of course, nobody believed that Albus Dumbledore was trying to save the magical community and ended blamed of conspiracy, of making an army against the Ministery of Magic and the actual minister. Also, for the death of Harry James Potter and Ronald Billius Weasley. Rita Skeeter wrote the entire article, once she got away from Hermione's trap and h e never felt that sick by just reading an article on a newspaper.

Dolores Umbridge returned to the school as the headmistress and he was a part of a resistance movement that worked secretly under her nose.

"The secret of a good haircut is the study of the shape of your face" he heard the voice of Poppy Promfey and blinked a few times to return from his thoughts. He wasn't sure of how much time passed, but for him felt like two more years just by thinking in everything that happened since then.

The cabin in the woods was almost like their only place to hide and obviously that the girl had to be there.

"Would you like to know… how to do it, professor?" the woman kindly asked, pointing her wand at Hermione and levitating her to a sitting position. "I am pretty sure that is a task that you will end liking and it will help you to distract a little from everything that happens in the school. Maybe you could talk to her a bit, while cutting her hair. Or read something. I've heard that in this case, most of the patients can hear what we are saying and even think about it".

But he wasn't precisely there, to learn how to cut the hair of a young girl. He barely kept his multiple roles balanced and was scared to make any wrong move and destroy everything he worked for.

He was a Potions professor, the head of Slytherin, a spy and also a death eater. He had no time to learn how to cut hair or give the proper care to a young and deeply asleep witch. He had better things to do.

"Have you talked with Longbottom lately?" He suddenly asked, his expression was unreadable in the middle of the soft lights of the fireplace and the candles around. The cabin had enough size for two people to live there, with two beds, a wardrobe, a nice bathroom, a kitchen and windows with white silky curtains, chairs, tables. Everything anyone could ask to have a decent and quiet life.

"Not really…." The medi witch sighed deeply. "I think that Minerva still writes to his grandma when Dolores Umbridge isn't around and the last thing I knew was that she still doesn't know where he is. He must be hiding somewhere after your last letter, asking him what he put on the potion back then". "The boy is really scared after all what happened with Granger, Potter and Weasley. He used to visit her every day like you and offer his help in whatever we needed to bring her back. I think that the only one that hasn't turned her back to him is this girl…" She thought in the name for a moment. "Miss Lovegood…" "Yes, she sure knows where he is. Sure they keep any sort of contact".

_Neville Longbottom_

Before ending expelled, the boy used to visit Granger every day. He brought her flowers or any other gift that Snape thought, meant any kind of apology. He tried to remain friendly and also tried to convince his classmates and the other students from the rest of the houses, that he was the same boy of everyday, but failed miserably.

Day after day, Longbottom was left alone and Severus noticed a slightly change in his behavior. He was much more scared than before but also started to develop a new personality that felt a bit familiar.

_Hate…_

_Anger…_

_Depression._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope that you liked it. If you have any doubt or comment, please leave it and also a little kudo if you read.
> 
> Thanks!


	4. Neville Longbottom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neville Longbottom wishes to talk with Snape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heavelocked, did the betaing of the first chapters and so did a friend :). If you are interested in help also, please let me know! It would help me to improve.

**AN** **:** Well, here I go again. Please don't kill me if my English sucks even more than before. I'm stubborn and I keep trying to learn. If you see any mistake, let me know :).

**_Neville_ ** **_Longbottom_ **

  
He wasn't exactly sure that Hermione could even hear his words, but he followed Poppy's advice and started to read one of these books that Sinistra brought with her that morning. The woman sat in the opposite chair next to the young witch's bed and listened carefully at his words, while he was reading about magical myths and legends.

"Interesting theory about the origin of the sirens. Imagine all these captains getting lost in the middle of the ocean, just by hearing their hypnotic songs." After two paragraphs, Aurora smiled at him and deeply thought about it. "They were really beautiful for sure."

" _They_ _were_ _beautiful_ _indeed_ but just to attract them to their traps, like most of the regular women do." Sinistra couldn't help and laughed loudly at his words while the man closed the book with just a little movement of his hand, letting it rest over his lap. "I think that it's enough reading for now." "Minerva should be heading to St Mungo at any second and I promised to keep an eye on Umbridge while she was out of the castle."

"You have to teach today, don't you?" the woman asked, placing one of her hands over Hermione's forehead and caressing it softly. "You will see that little girl today. The Hufflepuff's first year that Alecto tried to kill with the cruciatus curse".

"I suppose, yes". He curtly nodded, feeling a sudden heat running through his veins at the thought of that despicable woman, torturing students. "I will talk with Alecto about her teaching methods. I can't promise anything, but I will do my best to convince her to stop".

"Thank you, Severus". Professor Aurora got up from the chair and sadly looked at Hermione, deeply asleep in the middle of the bed. "I heard from Pomona, that the young girl feels really scared and started to skip classes, constantly reporting herself sick with Poppy."

"I guess that I will talk with her today, too". "Perhaps not the best idea since she fears me also, but Minerva will be really busy and I will have to cover her".

She nodded and walked into the living room, stopping in front of Albus's portrait and wondering if Snape knew how to give a motivational talk. The painting moved, revealing the dark passage of every day from the past two years and she told herself that maybe she had to give him more credit.

At the end, he had a hard time keeping all his multiple roles balanced and so far didn't betray the cause.

The potions professor followed her into the living room and before he could stop in front of the painting, he heard a strange sound coming from the outside of the cabin. The doorknob moved and Severus held one of his hands behind him, silently telling the woman to stay quiet while slowly taking out his wand from one of his pockets, immediately closing the curtains and pointing it at the door, ready to kill whatever was trying to get inside the cabin.

"Protect the witch". He whispered softly at the woman behind him, feeling his throat suddenly dry with anticipation. Minerva wasn't around so it wasn't her and she wouldn't use the front door. Hagrid wouldn't just politely knock and wouldn't use the front door either, and the centaurs wouldn't even try to enter without asking for permission first.

The movement on the doorknob ceased but Severus froze as he heard another soft knocking from the outside of the cabin.

"Merlin's beard! What are we supposed to do, Severus?" Sinistra asked, frightened. Her voice shaking a little.

"Fight. That's all what we are going to do." He murmured under his breath, eyes fixed over the door a few meters away from him. "Granger needs our protection and we can't let them know our secret". "Quickly! Inform Albus about this and stay with her. Cast as many protective charms as you can over the room and close the door".

"What the hell are you thinking!?" the woman whispered, mortified with the thought, but the Potion's professor merely shook his head as if he were trying to tell her to just shut up and follow his orders. She didn't saw that determined look on his face before and suddenly understood why Albus Dumbledore trusted him from the very beginning.

Aurora didn't had any other option but follow his command, calling the old headmaster through the painting and getting inside the dormitory, closing the door behind her and securing the walls with protective charms.

"Severus…" the portrait immediately said, but he didn't move. "What's wrong, my boy?"

"Someone it's trying to enter, Albus". "Sinistra it's already locked inside the dormitory, with Granger, casting as  many protective spells as possible".

"I will let Hagrid know as fast as I can and tell him to look around for intruders".

"There is no time for that. The intruder it's already here and politely knocking". He replied coolly, thinking in just one possibility of solving the issue he had in hands.

He had to open the door and confront the intruder.

Severus started to walk to the front door without putting his wand down and suddenly feeling a rush of blood to the head, momentaneously dizzy. Year after year he had to stand in front of the darkness and survive, so he wasn't really scared at all.

 _But_ _a_ _little_ _worried_ _because_ _he_ _had_ _lives_ _under_ _his_ _care_ _which_ _he_ _had_ _to_ _protect_ _at_ _any_ _cost_ _._

He held his breath looking at his hand over the doorknob and about to turn it to confront the enemy, understanding that it would be a serious problem.

It would give him less time to react and more time to his enemy to cast a spell and kill him.

But he didn't have any time for second thoughts. He had to protect a woman and a young girl, so he better got it done before it was too late.

He pushed the door with one hand and immediately directed his wand against “ _the_ _intruder_ _"_.

_Well…_

He expected a fight. An army of death eaters or maybe Dolores Umbridge standing in front of him, finally finding out where his loyalties lay.

But he seriously didn't expect that.

"Longbottom…" Snape put his wand down, but refuse to put it back inside his pockets. After all, it could be a trap or something. "What in the name of Merlin are you doing here and how on earth you passed over our protective charms…?"

The boy seemed older than what he remembered and didn't have that frightened look which he used to have during his classes. There was a defiant look for sure, but he didn't have time to sit and chat with a depressed young  _"_ _adult_ _"_.

"It seems that you have a security problem, professor". Neville replied without even showing any discomfort at his presence and being honest, he was a little taken aback by his bolder attitude. "The centaurs told me that you were here".

"These useless centaurs. They were supposed to keep the secret!" Severus complained, raising an eyebrow at the stupid turn of events.

"They already knew that I wasn't a treat. That I didn't come to cause any harm". The young man shrugged, staring deeply into his eyes. "I just wished to talk to you, if you don't mind of course".

Snape simply stepped backwards, letting the young man come inside and closing the door behind him.

If he wanted to talk, then they would sit and talk.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a real story that happened on my country, years ago *I can't exactly recall the right date*. I do hope that you enjoy my fanfic and sorry for the mistakes, since English isn't my first language and some people say that if I want to learn, I must start a whole fan fic on English *not translating it from my Spanish fanfics* and try to think every word I have in mind in English.
> 
> Thanks for understanding and if someone wants to help me as a beta, I would appreciate it. Any comment will be really appreciated, but at least try to be polite with your opinions.
> 
> I am still wondering if I should write about the war, focus just on them or assume that Harry and Ron could be dead without her help. Any advice would be useful, please help me with your opinions ;)
> 
> Disclaimer: Nothing is mine just the fan fic since the plot it's based on a real story and was just adapted for the Potter universe. The characters, except the OC, are made by the wonderful JK Rowling and belong to the Harry Potter's books. Writing this fan fic just for fun and I don't expect to make real money with it.
> 
> And well, I will take this tiny space to narrate what happened in my country:
> 
> Many many years ago, a little girl was about to have a surgery but the company that provided the anesthesia bottles and some other chemical bottles, mistook one of them for the other and sent the wrong one to the hospital. The doctor in charge, instead of making her sleep for just a few hours, made her sleep forever. She was still growing up in that bed, but she would never wake up and he sadly ended up in jail. The other residents built a kind of tiny appartment around her bed, where her mother could visit and see her growing up.
> 
> During the trial, the doctor was able to prove that the bottle had the wrong ring color (indicating what kind of chemical it had inside) and the drug company had to pay a lot of money to the family of the little girl and the doctor.
> 
> So this is basically the story that inspired my bunny plot. I hope to hear what you guys think about it and what kind of universe it should have. War universe, AU, just focused on them... or something else.
> 
> (Also if it should have a happy ending or if Hermione should never wake up again).
> 
> Lots of love and thanks for reading! Don't forget to click the review/comment button :)


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